2 ms·

Well that and expensive goods...

• lumost 6y ago
  This is a more complicated question. If wages go up, then goods cost less relatively. If everything is made internally, then the price of goods can be substantially lower than it is when everything is imported. Compare the price level of Hawaii to the mainland USA. Food is expensive because it's imported, yet Hawaii has some of the most productive farmland in the world. Unfortunately that production goes to cash crops owned by global corporations, nearly eliminating all local food production.
  • gruez 6y ago
    >Unfortunately that production goes to cash crops owned by global corporations, nearly eliminating all local food production. "Unfortunately"? Clearly you haven't heard of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_advantage
    • lumost 6y ago
      The operative question here is who is benefiting from comparative advantage? In this case quite literally no resident of Hawaii benefits from the current situation. Sugar cane and coffee do not create good jobs relative to other agriculture and the exports drive up land and food staple prices.